The Minding Organization: Bring the Future to the Present and Turn Creative Ideas into Business Solutions Review

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The Minding Organization: Bring the Future to the Present and Turn Creative Ideas into Business Solutions ReviewAccording to the authors, "To keep up with the complexity and uncertainty of an unconventional and largely unpredictable global business world, organizations must embrace a new metaphor that will transform an organization into a minding organization. The minding organization behaves like a living organism, in which adapting is central to vitality and control." Agreeing with Drucker that organizations must manage the implications and consequences of a future that has already occurred, the authors suggest a number of strategies which will "bring the future to the present and turn creative ideas into business solutions." Their book is organized as follows:
Chapter One: The Minding Organization
Chapter Two: Transforming the Organization into an Organism
Chapter Three: Adapting and Planning
Chapter Four: Structure, Creativity, and Error: The Foundations of the Minding Organization
Chapter Five: Chaos to Order to Chaos: Embracing Uncertainty
Chapter Six: Expanding the Imagination: Frames as Filters
Chapter Seven: Kniht [Think] Backward: Visit the Future in the Present
Chapter Eight: The New Leadership: Operating on the Edge of Chaos
Chapter Nine: The Minding Organization in Action
The authors provide a rigorous analysis of each component of a process by which to "bring the future to the present and turn creative ideas into business solutions." At the conclusion of Chapter Six, they suggest that the minding organization "creates chaos deliberately up front by starting with divergent concurrent perceptions and encourages errors to surface early when the costs of detection and correction are minimal." Immediately in the next chapter, they explain that the "frames" we create "filter the world for us, allowing us to manage the tremendous amount of information available." They then examine various "filters" which could prevent us from formulating the aforementioned "divergent concurrent perceptions." The sequence of the authors' ideas thus flows logically from one chapter to the next.
In the final chapter, the authors identify thirteen "precepts" of the minding organization. By now they have explained the interrelationships between (indeed the interdependence of) these precepts; they have also provided a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective plan by which to apply those precepts to the needs of any organization, regardless of its size or nature.
Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to read two books written by Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline and The Dance of Change. Rubinstein, Firstenberg, and Senge no doubt agree with Derek Bok's observation, when criticized by parents of Harvard students after a tuition increase: "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." In the minding organization, education is alive and well...and given its relative cost, a bargain.The Minding Organization: Bring the Future to the Present and Turn Creative Ideas into Business Solutions Overview

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You Need a Leader--Now What?: How to Choose the Best Person for Your Organization Review

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You Need a Leader--Now What: How to Choose the Best Person for Your Organization ReviewI have spent the last twenty four hours reading You Need a Leader - Now What? cover to cover and underlining key words or phrases on almost every page. Whether you are on a Fortune 500 or a nonprofit board looking for a CEO, this book is a terrific guide - well organized, comprehensive, and very helpful! It tells you what to do step by step as well as what to avoid. The examples are far ranging and solidify the concepts. Congratulations! It is a really great book!
Hazel
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Obama's Wars Review

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Obama's Wars Review
In the author's personal note to this book, Bob Woodward thanks his assistant Josh Bock with words of such kindness that I was completely taken aback by the grace that this man possesses. Many writers wouldn't take the time, or interest to be so encouraging to someone else. Woodward's writing has the poet's touch. It is elegant, straightforward, and of such compelling interest that this book like many others he has written, is a page turner. You start it, and you just keep going until you are finished. First we must discuss his sources and methods. This author doesn't publish unless he has confirmation of what he is being told by an additional 3rd party. His interviews are recorded, transcribed and then checked for errors. He sometimes revisits the same interviewee 4 or 5 times. He works with notes, documents and recollections. Although a person being interviewed may request that it be background only, once Woodward gets the same story from another independent source, the story is no longer background. Many people have talked to Woodward on the basis of background in an effort to remain anonymous, and control him. It just doesn't remain that way. You are not going to fool this man. When you read Obama's Wars, you realize that you can't obtain this much great information if you read a year's worth of the New York Times. You are getting the real deal here, and you don't get it anywhere else. Let me illustrate:*When meeting President Bush's intelligence officer and hearing what he had to say prior to the election, then Senator Obama responds that he was worried about losing this election, now he's worried about winning the election with the information he is being told. *Woodward confirms for us that Pakistani intelligence, the so called ISI has been giving aide to the Taliban, while taking $2 billion a year in cash from us.
*During the first half of 2008, the US made only 4 Predator strikes in Pakistan. Pakistan made the US warn the ISI ahead of time before a strike could be made. The ISI in turn would warn the Taliban and the bad guys would head for the hills prior to the strike. Once American got wise to the setup, we only gave the ISI simultaneous warning, and frankly we waited until the Predator was ready to fire its missiles before giving that warning. Where are you going to get information like this? I don't see it in the Washington Post, and certainly not the NY Times.
*President Obama was informed that 35 countries do not require Visas prior to coming to the United States. Terrorists are now coming to the US through those countries and forming cells. Our worst nightmare may be yet to come.*Iran will have a gun-type nuclear weapon between 2013 and 2015 which will be demonstrated in the desert. Saudi Arabia will immediately notify Pakistan that you help us develop a nuclear weapon, or we cut off oil supplies to your country.
*Then Senator Obama was the victim of a cyber attack on his campaign by the Chinese government that copied his documents and files. The greater danger was what would happen if they destroyed the files as opposed to just copying them. The same thing happened to Senator McCain and his campaign. *But Wait - there's more. Senator Obama was then told that every day both the Bank of NY and Citibank handle $3 trillion a day in funds transfers, whereas the entire economy is equal to $14 trillion in gross domestic product. Other countries now have the capability to interfere with those transactions through cyber war. The resulting financial chaos would be exponentially worse than the World Trade Center destruction. We do not have a cyber defense yet. Woodward is at his best when discussing personalities. His discussion of Hillary Clinton's reluctance, then refusal and finally acceptance of the Cabinet position of Secretary of State is absolutely fascinating. Senator Clinton did not want the position, but Senator Obama's people sensed the door was still opened, so they told her to sleep on it over night. During the night Senator Clinton consulted Mark Penn, the Clinton pollster who basically asked her if she was crazy. Take it, "you will have an unmatched record of public service." He also reminded her that you are weak on foreign policy and national security, and now you will have absolute bonafides in both, and it didn't hurt that you she will finally show independence from her husband. Yes, there's Richard Holbrooke the egotist, and General Petraeus comes through looking great. No one lays a glove on the General. The Secretary of Defense Robert Gates gets very high marks in the book. Over and over again, when you read Woodward, you recognize that the story you are reading is not something that is covered anywhere else. You are a part of the decision making process. You are involved. You know who makes sense and who doesn't, who's brilliant, and who's all talk, and no show. I have given you pieces here and pieces there, a flavoring of a giant ice cream Sundae. Every page has a great story, and there is nothing superfluous in this great read. This book gets five stars. If you love politics, a good story, history, and reading what a great author operating at the peak of his powers can do, read Obama's Wars, and thank you for reading this review. Richard C. Stoyeck
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Mad Women: The Other Side of Life on Madison Avenue in the '60s and Beyond Review

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Mad Women: The Other Side of Life on Madison Avenue in the '60s and Beyond ReviewJane was one of those rare women who worked in advertising during the 60's. Office sex abounded, women were second class employees not trusted to work on the "big boy" accounts, and many a working lunch included drinks before, during, and after the meal. So, while the show Mad Men paints a somewhat accurate portrait of what it was like, there is so much more to the story.
I am a huge fan of the show Mad Men, there is something about it I find so decadent. And as a woman, I am fascinated by the gender power struggle at play. I often forget, however, that the show represents a real time in American history, a time when my salary would be so much lower simply because I am a woman. This book really helped me realize that the struggles of the women on the show were based in reality.
Jane Maas does a great job of storytelling, really tying in to the popularity of the show, and making the time period come alive to readers. I could really see her stories playing out in my mind. However, about 3/4 of the way through the book, I felt like she strayed away from the tie in to the shows themes and began simply writing a memoir about her life. Which was fine, but just felt out of theme with the book. The parts about the I Love New York campaign and her time working for Leona Helmsley just seemed a bit out of place to me.
All in all, I enjoyed the book, as I think many fans of the show will. I think my attention just started to drift by the end is all.Mad Women: The Other Side of Life on Madison Avenue in the '60s and Beyond Overview

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The President's House: A History (2 Volume Set) Review

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The President's House: A History (2 Volume Set) ReviewOften, history is written in broad sweep narratives that can be static and boring to the reader. Although William Seale wrote more than 1,000 pages on the history of the White House, you can be assured that there is nothing static or boring about these volumes. He displays an understanding of the fact that history is about the human drama of real people facing real predicaments, and it's poignance is found in how they react to those predicaments.
Whereas a history book will tell you that the British burned the White House in 1814, Seale tells us what was happening on the DAY the British marched into town. The hundred sentry guards who were supposed to defend the White House were gone, and they could easily have taken on the battalion of 150 British soldiers who marched in the mud down Pennsylvania Avenue, walked around the White House like tourists, ate Dolley Madison's dinner, and then torched the White House with precision. Then there is the even more dramatic moment when Lincoln looked out across the Potomac into Virginia to see the flags of the Confederacy flying, knowing that soon the capital would be surrounded if Maryland seceded from the Union.
The book is a perfect match of comedy and drama with stories ranging from the infestation of rats in the basement to a presidential love story that rivals "The American President," and in places describes a house that you would never imagine to be destined as the symbol of the most powerful nation on earth.The President's House: A History (2 Volume Set) Overview

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Direct From Dell: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dell Computer Corporation Review

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Direct From Dell: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dell Computer Corporation ReviewThis is a terrific book for anyone who aspires to run or lead a business. Dell writes entertainingly about his childhood adventures -- not many teenagers were enterprising enough to research how to find all newly married couples and all people who took out mortgages in order to sell newspaper subscriptions! He was making an annual salary higher than most of his teachers just from his summer activities. His parents should have known they were in for trouble. The first part of the book is devoted to how he founded his business with $1000 of start up money and then all the ups, downs, and mistakes they made along the way. It is encouraging to read that it's not the mistakes that matter, but how quickly you acknowledge and address them that count.
The second part of the book has tremendously practical advice for almost any company. Why make the same mistakes that you could avoid by following his model for success? I daresay there is enough solid information here for any informed person to put into practice what Dell did to make a successful business. After having read a series of books on leadership, I can say that this is one of the most practical and hands-on ones as well as one of the most interesting.Direct From Dell: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dell Computer Corporation Overview

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The Real Story of Informix Software and Phil White: Lessons in Business and Leadership for the Executive Team Review

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The Real Story of Informix Software and Phil White: Lessons in Business and Leadership for the Executive Team ReviewThis is an interesting, if sterile, dissection of the rise and fall of one-time Silicon Valley darling Informix and their charismatic CEO, Phil White. Author Steve Martin was an Informix employee in the critical years from 1991 through 1997, and therefore speaks with the authority and insider's knowledge not found in the perspective of an outside journalist, burdened by the baggage of an interviewee's selective recall. Martin couples with the history a series of business lessons, which, while not profound, provide a succinct primer of management basics that are broadly applicable. Not the least of these lessons is the danger in allowing personal rivalries to cloud sound business judgment. In the case of Informix, an irrational focus on beating Oracle and it's obnoxious CEO, Larry Ellison, could be traced to Informix's eventual demise. While Martin is admittedly a Phil White sympathizer, he is not an apologist, and does a good job of presenting the other side of the story that was so negatively twisted by a scandal-crazed press and a US Justice Department which, in the days of Enron and WorldCom, was chomping at the bit to get a major CEO in handcuffs doing the perp walk wearing stripes. Even the most cynical critic of Informix and White must concede that the offense that ultimately sunk the Informix ship was disproportional to the consequences delivered by Judge Breyer.This book will be most appreciated by those who have lived and worked in Silicon Valley during the days immediately preceding the Internet boom and subsequent bust, as well as those not intimidated by a fairly heavy dosage of product-related technical jargon. Having been a Silicon Valley CEO at the time with some familiarity with White and the team, I was hoping for more specifics in the disastrous Illustra acquisition - especially more of the personalities involved - but that in no way impacts a solid story that deserves to be chronicled. In summary, if you're looking for an orgy of Informix gossip and dirty laundry, this isn't it. But for a quick and insightful history of an important chapter in Silicon Valley, "The Real Story of Informix Software..." is worth the time.
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Inside National Health Reform (California/Milbank Books on Health and the Public) Review

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Inside National Health Reform (California/Milbank Books on Health and the Public) ReviewInside National Health Reform offers an uncommon combination of both the political process and policy substance of the Affordable Care Act. From his unique perspective, John McDonough provides a first-hand, thoughtful account of the politics surrounding health reform, and supplies the context for how our health care system, and its many problems, came to be. Further, McDonough's thorough and balanced description of the provisions included in the ACA go far to educate readers on the substance and potential implications of the new law, written in both an entertaining and accessible way. The book revives much-needed optimism about the future of our health care system at a time when we are too quick to forget the historic accomplish and sweeping benefits the ACA.Inside National Health Reform (California/Milbank Books on Health and the Public) Overview

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